Klaus Töpfer (born 29 July 1938) is a German politician (
CDU) and environmental politics expert. From 1998 to 2006 he was executive director of the
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
(UNEP).
Early life and education
Töpfer was born in
Waldenburg,
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
. He studied
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
in
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
,
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...
. In 1968 he earned his doctorate at the
University of Münster
The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stud ...
.
Early career
In 1971, Töpfer was appointed Head of Planning and Information of the Federal State of Saarland, a post he held until 1978. During that time, he also served as a visiting professor at the
Academy of Administrative Sciences in
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
, and consulted several countries on development policy, among them Egypt, Brazil and Jordan. He spent the following year at the
University of Hannover
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...
as Professor and Director of the Institute for Spatial Research and Planning.
Political career
In 1985 Töpfer became State Minister for the Environment and Health in the government of Minister President
Bernhard Vogel
Bernhard Vogel (; born 19 December 1932) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the 2nd Minister President of Thuringia from 1992 to 2003. ...
of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
.
In 1987 Töpfer became Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety under
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
. During his time in office, Germany established the
Federal Office for Radiation Protection
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
as a response to the
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...
. From 1994 to 1998 he served as Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Civil Engineering and Urban Development. He was member of the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
from 1990 to 1998 and member of the Steering Committee of the
CDU from 1992 to 1998.
In 1998 Töpfer was appointed Under Secretary General of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, General director of the United Nations office in
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
and Executive Director of the
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
. Among the milestones of his eight-year tenure are a number of important environmental agreements, including the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement on biosafety as a supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) effective since 2003. The Biosafety Protocol seeks to prot ...
and the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Töpfer was also closely involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations in support of the
Kyoto Protocol on
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. In June 2006 he was succeeded in this office by
Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner (born 17 May 1961) is a Brazilian-born environmentalist who currently serves as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chairman of United Nations Sustainable Development Group.
Before joining UNDP, he w ...
. As director of UNEP, he has had a key role in gauging and attempting to remedy the environmental costs of the
2004 Asian tsunami.
Later career
In 2009 Töpfer was appointed founding director of the
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies
The Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in Potsdam (former Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) or Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit in german) conducts research with the aim of investigating, identifying, and advan ...
(IASS) which performs research between climate problems and sustainable economics. This institute is located at
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, Germany. The institutes funding is provided by the federal government of Germany
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (german: link=no, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, ), abbreviated BMBF, is a cabinet-level ministry of Germany. It is headquartered in Bonn, with an office in Berlin. The Ministry provi ...
.
Töpfer was rumored as a possible successor to the German presidency after
Christian Wulff
Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff (; born 1959) is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously served as minister president of the ...
's resignation. He later served as co-chairman of the Federal Government’s Ethics Commission on a Safe Energy Supply.
Since 2013 Töpfer has been heading the project "DEMOENERGY – The Transformation of the Energy System as the Engine for Democratic Innovations" together with
Claus Leggewie and
Patrizia Nanz (both Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
, Germany). In 2016, the
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...
(ECOSOC) appointed Töpfer as co-chairman (alongside
Juan Somavia) of an Independent Team of Advisors on positioning the UN development system for the
Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
.
In 2018,
Energy Community
The Energy Community, commonly referred to as the Energy Community of South East Europe (ECSEE), is an international organization consisting of the European Union (EU) and a number of non-EU countries. It aims to extend the EU internal energy ...
appointed Töpfer to serve as mediator in an energy dispute between
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
and Serbia.
Other activities
Corporate boards
* Theva, Member of the Senior Advisory Council (since 2017)
*
Porsche, Member of the Sustainability Advisory Board (since 2016)
*
ProSiebenSat.1 Media
ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Fran ...
, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2011)
*
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
, Member of the Climate Change Advisory Board (2011)
*
Volkswind Gruppe, Member of the Advisory Board (2009–2015)
Non-profit organizations
* atmosfair, Patron
* Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit, Member of the Advisory Board
*
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (german: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren) is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. ...
, Member of the Senate (2007–2009)
* Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (EEP),
University of Stuttgart, Member of the Advisory Board
*
German Foundation for World Population
DSW (german: Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung) is an international non-governmental organisation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) and population dynamics. DSW funds its project and advocacy work from private donations and the finan ...
(DSW), Member of the Advisory Board
* German-Russian Raw Materials Forum, Patron
*
Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Member of the Board
*
Agora Energiewende
Agora Energiewende is a think tank supporting the ''Energiewende'' in Germany. It is funded by and the European Climate Foundation.
Its members debate under the Chatham House Rule and include Klaus Töpfer, Ottmar Edenhofer, and Claude Turmes ...
, Chairman of the Council (2013–2018)
Prof. Dr. Klaus Töpfer übergibt Vorsitz des Rates der Agora Energiewende an Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing
Agora Energiewende
Agora Energiewende is a think tank supporting the ''Energiewende'' in Germany. It is funded by and the European Climate Foundation.
Its members debate under the Chatham House Rule and include Klaus Töpfer, Ottmar Edenhofer, and Claude Turmes ...
, press release of 5 March 2018.
* German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), Member (2001–2010, appointed ad personam by Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...
)
References
External links
*https://archive.today/20130416041104/http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=43&ArticleID=3174
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110524114350/http://www.gleeds.tv/index.cfm?video=99
*https://www.iass-potsdam.de/en/people/klaus-topfer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Topfer, Klaus
1938 births
Living people
People from Wałbrzych
Environment ministers of Germany
Club of Rome members
Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians
Members of the Bundestag for Saarland
Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998
German officials of the United Nations
People from the Province of Lower Silesia
United Nations Environment Programme
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
People from Freiberg
Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
State ministers of Rhineland-Palatinate